Nurses and Health Professionals

AFT Connecticut is the largest union of acute care hospital workers in the state, representing approximately 10,000 nurses and allied health professionals. The labor federation's members work in 10 of the state’s hospitals. From securing strong contracts to establishing safe staffing requirements, AFT Connecticut works to improve working conditions for all healthcare workers and provide its members with career training and professional development.

Click here to hear nurses at Backus Hospital in Norwich on the 5th anniversary of forming their union reflect on what they have won for their patients and their profession.

Delegates to AFT Connecticut’s annual business convention on Saturday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution to formally endorse Ned Lamont's candidacy in the 2018 gubernatorial election. The action follows months of preparations and preliminary mobilization that began last fall with the development of our state federation's strategic plan. The resolution sets in motion the critical volunteer recruitment phase in which union members will be tapped to fuel our grassroots "labor is your neighbor" program.

Members of affiliated unions have for years engaged in grassroots community and faith-based efforts to tackle discrimination, poverty and inequality where they work and live. Several local social justice organizations allied with AFT Connecticut have begun coordinating state activities in the "Poor People's Campaign (PPC): A National Call for Moral Revival." State federation leaders last month took steps to be part of this movement, rooted in the unfinished work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Following years of advocacy, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in 2014 adopted rules to streamline union elections for working people in the private sector. The reform now faces significant risk from the Trump Administration's appointees to the federal agency overseeing the nation's employment laws. In response, the labor movement in Connecticut is escalating efforts to assure a harassment-free process for workers seeking a stronger voice on the job.

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday heard oral arguments in a corporate-funded lawsuit aimed directly at public employees across the country. That afternoon in Connecticut, union members gathered at simultaneous demonstrations to show the case's backers that working people aren’t backing down. All this took place as our state federation's leaders moved forward a plan to build greater strength for the future, regardless of the high court's ruling.

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Our national union is taking action to hold the federal education department and its contracted private servicers accountable to student loan borrowers. Click here to share your story of being subjected to predatory, fraudulent activities and of struggling with the burden of debt.